I loved, loved, loved this book. One of my favorite characters in a long time. Desperately sad, it tells the story of a young girl in appalachia after the civil war. Much of her story is unbelivably tragic - hunger, death, and unending struggle. Yet, the writing is so clean, beautiful and rich that the story sings, and is surprisingly uplifting. The central character Julie Harmon is a simple woman - uneducated, unquestioning. She is the person that her entire family leans on to run the farm when her father takes ill, and later, the center of her family when she marries. She has an amazing spirit - full of faith, and with an enduring power and will to survive, and to love, despite amazing challenges and hardship. She takes joy in the quiet of nature, the smell of chestnuts, and the taste of fresh ham, even when they are hungry, and she has only 32 cents left in the world.

It would have been less painful to just slit my wrists and get it over with. Rarely have I read a more bleak book.

This book and I have some history. It's the kind of cover and premise that would have attracted me since I was just little. I sought it out again recently because Jess Sowards (from Roots and Refuge) had recommended it, knowing that I had at one point bought it and given it away before finishing it, but not really remembering why.

I'm glad I didn't read more than the first chapter when I started it at 17 years old. I think I was horrified by the way Julie's little brother died and didn't think I could handle the rest. Reading it now, as a 24-year-old wife of only a year, this story touched me in a much deeper way than it would have at that age.

***(There are also important elements of the story that rest on Julie and Hank's relationship as a married couple, which includes some semi-explicit -- my opinion -- bedroom scenes. I am glad I did not read these before getting married.)***

Normally I don't love stories written by men from a woman's perspective, but this one holds out. Julie is the narrator of the story and I found her perspective on life so refreshing from a female protagonist. Her life has held so much sorrow but she isn't a sort of Cinderella or a martyr about it. I was inspired by her pluckiness and resourcefulness in holding so much responsibility, especially in feeding her family. Since I love food history and preservation so much, I dearly loved the descriptions of her canning, foraging, and making use of what she found.

There are a lot of "just when you think it can't get any worse" moments in Gap Creek, but while it did make me cry, I never felt drug down. I guess that's because the sun always kept coming up and Julie and Hank always manage to return to their love or one another.

I was mildly bothered by the way Hank treats Julie sometimes, but I thought it very realistic of the way someone like him would be. Everything that bothered me about this book, I knew it was right that it bothered me. And I don't have much time for a book that doesn't bother me at all.

It's the kind of book that comes to life off the page, makes you think about the world differently, causes you to look hard at your life, and then sticks with you a long time, like an earthy aftertaste of strong herbal tea. I listened to it on audio and it was very well done, but I am going to hunt down another copy to hold in my hands again, because a book this precious is something I will need to revisit.

Flat, one dimensional characters set in a dreary depressing novel. This is the furthest thing from southern literature imaginable. Stereotypical hillbilly language and a husband who beats his wife. No one respects the young wife who appears to be the only character who can make a living, bury the dead, and fight a house fire. I hated this book and will never read anything by this author again. I'm pretty sure he despises women too. Colossal waste of time.

Hard work is what a marriage takes. This book is written by a man, but is from the perspective of a woman. He did a good job about this and showing all the work that the woman did in that time era. There are some very sensual parts about this book and I find the depth of the relationship was lacking a bit because we did not hear them converse with each other much or express feelings toward each other. The main conversation was more about how they griped at each other and Julie was so independent of doing things for herself. It was almost like there was a pride in the fact that she worked so hard that she did not need any help from her husband unless she was on her death bed. Some really sad moments in this book, but I feel it was an accurate portrayal of what life was like at the time.

This book was an Ophra selection in its day and as such is very depressing, doom and gloom book, where the main character has to fight the whole world. Unlike some of her other selections – this one keeps you entranced through the whole story. Julie Harmon is 16 when she marries Hank and moves down the mountain to Gap Creek. In the months before her marriage her brother and father die – and then the man whose house they move to, wear Julie keeps house for their rent, he dies shortly after. And things get worse.

Despite one disaster after another – Julie is a character who is just so lovable – she is very young, and very faithful to her religion, and loves her young husband. She digs her feet in and refuses to let life beat them. Her story is really looking at life through the eyes of innocence – but as her character experiences life she learns and grows in ability. This is a book worth reading – and while there is no happy ending – the ending leaves you with the knowledge that just maybe things will be different.

This is an Oprah's Book Club selection by a prize winning author, which usually equates to the Midas Touch of Literature. However, it didn't ring true for me. Perhaps it was because it was a man writing a female character. It reminded me a great deal of someone writing about the sea who had never seen it or smelled it or touched it. The main character, Julie, came across as an abstract, conceptual woman rather than a real one.

There were whole passages in the book I started to skim because they screamed, "I have a degree in literature! Look at my beautiful prose that could have been summed up with small words in two sentences!" A lot of the dialog fell flat for me and I didn't feel like each character had their own voice.

I did like the detail and accuracy paid to the day-to-day life of the time period, from hog killing to housekeeping. That rang true for me, while most of the novel did not. I know a great many people loved this book, but sadly, I found it lacking.

Just OK. There is a sequel but I have little desire to continue this storyline. Set in the early 1900's, it tells the story of Julie, our protagonist, and her struggles eeking out a life in the rural Carolinas. She marries young, to a relatively immature, quick to anger young man. Nothing good can come of that, but she is an amazingly strong character and we are left at the end of the book to believe he finally shapes up and becomes worthy of his marriage. Overall a little depressing, but I believe life during the turn of the 20th century was not a bowl of cherries and the author did a good job depicting that.

I rated this 5 stars because of the way it was written and the twists in this couple's story. But if I have to rate the characters in this novel, I would definitely rate Julie 4.5 stars and her husband Hank only 1 star. This couple is two different souls who just hurriedly tied the knot without even has the slightest idea about each other. Hank was just strong in physique but not on the inside because of how he easily snap and breakdown during problems.

I know that other reviews on this book were not that good but for me, I enjoyed reading it. It showed us that marriage is not pure bliss and that couples must be headstrong and should help each other in times of struggles. And before I could forget, I was really amazed that a man written this because of how he portrayed women/wives stronger than them, guys.

I picked this book up from the second-hand bookstore near where I work on a particularly rainy and grey Sunday. Since I haven't been reading like I used to, I wanted something easy to get me back in the groove, and this book, and the snippet of review from the NYT on the cover, caught my eye.

It's interesting enough, and the first 50 pages or so drew me in like crazy (hint: gruesome death), but as I neared the end, I realized that there wasn't really ever going to be any story or any real resolution to this novel. It's well-written enough, though the honky-tonk drawl of the first-person narrator can be a bit distracting. The main beef I had with this book was the (male) author's penchant for writing long descriptive passages of exclusively female experiences (like childbirth, and sex - which really read like an account of what men THINK sex is like for women but bears no resemblance to my experience of it, anyway). I don't want to be a gender elitist here, but it wasn't convincing, and it seemed a bit patronising.

All in all, this was a fine summer read, but it didn't make me think anything new, though it did prime the pump for something with a little more bite.

Set in South Carolina during the late 1800s, Gap Creek is where newlyweds Julie and Hank set out to make a life. Married at a young age, they find whatever happens ... strength comes in their love for each other. Julie narrates this story, telling of sorrows and joy. Her faith in God helps her live through sadness and trials. I think it is her endurance that gives Hank hope in surviving the worst of times, from a terrible fire, a dangerous flash flood, and the loss of their firstborn. A simple, hard life says it all. I learned a lot about survival, hog dressing, burial customs, seeds, and other affairs of plain living. Reading Morgan's novel seemed like a real Foxfire experience.

I was so taken away with this book. I LOVED the protagonist Julie. She was so tough, so physically and mentally strong, and so devoted to her life. I loved watching her learn and grow. And even though it was hard to read about parts of her marriage, I appreciated how young she was and what she was willing to do to survive in the time that she was born. It ends abruptly, but considering the kind of book that it was, I don't think the author had any intention of a neat and tidy conclusion.